Has there ever been a moment when you just stopped in the middle of busy day, looked around you and wondered how so many amazing things exist in this world? Think about the northern lights glaring up the sky, plants growing in ways we barely understand or fishes swimming deep in the ocean with glowing colors. These things are real yet we get so caught up in our daily struggles that we forget just how incredible life can be.
Rusty Reid explores this feeling in his latest song “Oh What a World”, a song originally written by Kacey Musgraves, Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk and released by Musgraves in 2018.
Reid, a Texas born, Seattle-based singer-songwriter has taken this beautiful song and given it a sound that feels closer to his own musical roots. His version is warm and grounded in the kind of country and Americana sound that makes you want to sit back, listen carefully and really take in what the song is saying.
The track appears at the end of his nineteen-song album of different emotions, ending things with a song like this makes a lot of sense. You can just tell that Reid doesn’t want to leave his audience feeling sad or gloomy. He wants us to walk away feeling grateful for life, the people we love and the little wonders we often take for granted.
“Oh What a World” is as simple as a song can be. It reminds us to look around and appreciate what is already there.
The lyrics talks about northern lights, unusual plants and fishes that glow in the water. These are not things made up for a fantasy movie. They are part of the natural world and that’s really interesting.
Think about it for a moment. We live on a planet where things happen every day that would sound unbelievable if we had never seen or heard about them, yet we wake up and rush through things, worry about money, relationships, work and the future and rarely give these things a second thought. That is where the repeated line “These are real things” comes in.
Beyond the lyrics, the instruments also play a big role in making Reid’s version a masterpiece. The song features Jason Roller on electric guitars, Chris Condon on acoustic guitars, Dane Bryant on the keyboard, Jay Gorman on bass and Robert Blair on drums, with Reid handling the vocals. Together, they create the beautiful sound we hear. The country and Americana influence in the overall feel is hard to ignore.
There’s a reason why “Oh, What a World” sits at the very end of Lone Stardust (Masterworks of Texas Songwriters). The album contains nineteen covers, all written by songwriters with a connection to Texas. After taking listeners through that many songs, Reid needed a closing track that could bring the journey to a satisfying end. He chose “Oh What A World” partly because of it’s connection to his spiritual side.
According to Reid, the song felt like the perfect way to conclude the album. After the emotional highs and lows of the earlier tracks, he wanted to leave listeners on a high note. When you reflect on the message of this song, you would understand his decision.
Picture yourself listening to an album that takes you through different stories, emotions and experiences, only to arrive at a final track that reminds you to appreciate being alive. It is almost like reaching the end of a long conversation with someone and walking away with one final thought that lingers with you. Instead of ending the album with another emotionally heavy moment, Reid leaves us with a feeling of gratitude and wonder.
It is worthy of mention that the song is also the only song on the album written by a woman, with Musgraves sharing the songwriting credits with Tashian and Fitchuk. The track has a distinct place in the project, and it is also evidence that Reid is willing to draw from different voices and interpretations while bringing the material into his own world.
One thing i keep coming back to while thinking Oh, What A world is the fact that life can be beautiful even when we don’t have all the answers. It reminds us that uncertainty doesn’t have to stop us from enjoying the present.
You don’t have to know every secret of the universe to appreciate a beautiful Sky. You don’t have to understand why you met someone before you can be thankful that they are in your life and you don’t have to have everything figured out before you allow yourself to enjoy a good moment.
Reid doesn’t leave us with a heavy heart. He leaves us with something to smile about and think about long after the music stops and perhaps that is the best thing a song like this can do.
Sometimes the world doesn’t have to make perfect sense before we appreciate it. Sometimes, all we need it that little reminder to look around and recognize how much beauty exists in simply being here.
And really, What a world it is.
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